SANTA CLARA — The 49ers just advanced to the divisional round of the NFC Playoffs with a 41-23 win over the Seattle Seahawks. Here are the grades of the 49ers for that achievement.
BROCK PURDY: A
He just had one of the greatest playoff performances by a 49ers quarterback of all time, and it didn’t start well. He seemed nervous early on as he wildly missed his first pass and finished the first half with 9 completions on 19 passes and a 91.3 passer rating. For the first time in his career, he looked like a true rookie because he made poor decisions and forced passes that were almost intercepted by linebackers. But things turned around at halftime, and in the second half Purdy completed 9 of 11 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns and his passer rating was a perfect 158.3. He also had a third possible touchdown pass that was dropped by Brandon Aiyuk. And Purdy made those games alone, climbing around the field and buying time. No offense to Jimmy Garoppolo who has history with this team but he couldn’t do those impromptu games because he’s not fast enough. Purdy’s ability to make defenders miss and extend plays is something very special and a big reason he’s establishing himself as the franchise quarterback that forms the offensive elite. Imagine how Garoppolo and Trey Lance must feel when they see Purdy take the team away from them.
RUNNING BACKS: A-MINUS
Christian McCaffrey caught a touchdown pass in the red zone and broke up a beautiful 68-yard run. But aside from that long win, the Seahawks kept McCaffrey to just 3.6 yards per carry by shutting off runs between tackles. Elijah Mitchell seemed rusty as he gained just 2 yards on 9 rushes.
WIDE RECEIVER: A-MINUS
Deebo Samuel looked sluggish in the first half until a Seahawks defenseman tore his ankle after a game, apparently trying to injure him. Then Samuel turned it up and in the second half he caught a pass on the flat and blew through the Seahawks defense for a 74-yard touchdown. To be fair, the Seahawks had retired by this point, but it was still an impressive game. Brandon Aiyuk also played well, gaining 73 yards through the air and making the crucial downfield block on Samuel’s touchdown. But Aiyuk also dropped Purdy’s fourth touchdown pass of the game.
TIGHT ENDS: B
George Kittle only caught 2 passes for 37 yards but also scored with a two-point conversion.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: B
They only gave up one sack, but that’s largely because Brock Purdy avoided a lot of hits that Jimmy Garoppolo wouldn’t have avoided. And even though the 49ers averaged 5.5 yards per carry, the offensive linemen struggled to get the pressure when running between tackles (until Seattle, of course, stopped).
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: C
Nick Bosa appeared to be on a pitch count, which is odd considering it was a playoff game. And once he was on the field, the Seahawks largely neutralized him as he finished the game with no sacks or quarterback hits, though he redeemed a fumble forced by Charles Omenihu. Omenihu was the star of this session today as he picked up two sacks. Arik Armstead also recorded one in the first quarter. Overall, this group has given up more than 100 rushing yards in the last three games for the second time, which is worrying. Run defense was elite earlier in the season but has recently taken a step back.
LINEBACKER: C
Dre Greenlaw recorded 11 tackles but also gave up a touchdown run to Kenneth Walker, who passed Greenlaw to the pylon. Fred Warner only recorded six tackles.
DEFENSIVE BACK: D
Deommodore Lenoir came on with a target on his back, but he played surprisingly well – catching a pass and breaking another. In fact, he played much better than 49ers No. 1 cornerback Charvarius Ward, who was repeatedly cheered by DK Metcalf, who finished for 136 yards and two touchdowns. Ward talked a lot of trash all season and showed no respect to Metcalf early in the game by standing squarely in his face and not giving him a pad. Then Metcalf hit him for a 50-yard touchdown catch, and Ward played passively the rest of the game. You could see the confidence leaving his body. Bad omens for the rest of the playoffs. Additionally, Jimmie Ward committed a 15-yard late hit on Geno Smith that gave the Seahawks three points and the lead before halftime.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A
Robbie Gould made all of his kicks and Mitch Wishnowsky boomed a 57-yard punt.
COACH: C
This game was much closer than the score would suggest. The Seahawks were six points down at the 49ers’ 19 in the middle of the third quarter — they were within field goal range. Then Geno Smith, who has no pocket presence, pocketed the ball too long, fumbling at 3rd and 14, the 49ers rallied and the Seahawks folded shortly after. Huge gift. He then threw an interception that essentially ended the game. Another gift. He’s not that good, and yet his passer rating was a 98.9 and the Seahawks still scored 23 points. This is worrying considering the 49ers will be facing much better quarterbacks than Smith going forward. What happens to the 49ers’ defense if the opposing quarterback doesn’t serve them turnovers on a silver platter? Honestly, the 49ers’ defense hasn’t played well in about a month, and today they showed upcoming opponents plenty of opportunities to attack them. On offense, the 49ers had 41 points, which is extremely impressive, and definitely looked like a unit in the second half that can lead the 49ers to a Super Bowl victory. Still, Kyle Shanahan needs to get his entire team ready to play a full 60 minutes of football next week. Today it looked like the 49ers expected the Seahawks to fold immediately. Then the Seahawks hit them in the mouth. The Seahawks had a good game plan — they just didn’t have a team good enough to execute it for four quarters. You are 9-9, the essence of mediocrity. Other teams will do what Seattle did, only better. The 49ers better be ready.